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Industrial production slipped 0.2% in May. Meanwhile, manufacturing output ticked up 0.1%. Growth in motor vehicles and parts, apparel and leather and aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment more than offset declines in printing and support, nonmetallic mineral products and petroleum and coal products. At 103.6% of its 2017 average, total industrial production in May rose 0.6% from the same month last year. Capacity utilization slipped to 77.4%, down 0.3 percentage points from April, but up 1.4% over the past year. Capacity remains 2.2 percentage points below its long-term average from 1972 to 2024.

In May, major market groups had mixed growth. Among consumer goods, the production of durables increased 2.0%, with the greatest improvement in automotive products (3.9%), while the index for nondurables edged down 0.8%, with the greatest drop in energy goods (-3.2%). The business equipment index advanced 0.8% in May due to a 6.4% increase in transit equipment.

Durable goods manufacturing picked up 0.4% in May, led by growth in motor vehicles and parts (4.9%) that offset decreases in nonmetallic mineral products (-1.6%) and fabricated metal products (-1.2%). Meanwhile, nondurable goods manufacturing decreased 0.2% in May. Manufacturing capacity utilization stayed the same at 76.7%, remaining 1.5 percentage points below the long-term average.